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Travel Tips

Norway

Norway

From south to north
 
Kristiansand:
- Built around the works of painter/sculptor Kjell Nupen is an impressive theme park with water as a central element.
- Ansgarskolen chapel of 2008 with beautiful windows by Kjell Nuppen and Peter Heijman. Also a sculpture by Kjell Nupen. For photos, see www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/sorlandet/1.6342367?index=true
 
Lillestrøm (Zuid-Oost Noorwegen):
- Magnus Church (1988) is composed of modular elements that form a large, rounded sanctuary with a chapel on each side.
 
Nærbø:
- Nærbø church, was completed in 2005, designed by architect Gunnar Fossen. It is decorated by one of Norway's foremost artists, Gunnar Torvund. Christian symbols, such as the fish and lamb, are embedded into the floor. At the front of the spacious church stands Torvund's striking altarpiece. Three intense blue slabs, and a lush garden that echoes the ornamentation of Norwegian folk art, rise from a rock dug up from Jæren. Suspended above are symbols, some Christian, others universal and in their midst hangs a Christ figure. Light pours in through a window behind and above the towering altarpiece, completing it as though it were a heavenly ladder.
 
Hinna:
- In the church windows by Victor Sparre Victor Sparre.
 
Stavanger:
- Stavanger Cathedral, Norway's oldest, a striking structure that dates to the 12th century. The cathedral makes up for its lack of Gothic scale in unexpected detail - the dramatic, 17th-century wooden pulpit, for example, encrusted with intricately carved scenes of Christ's birth, and the stained-glass windows added by Norwegian church artist Victor Sparre in the 1950s.
 
Utstein:                                                                                                                                                       
- Utstein Abbey (Utstein Kloster) is Norway's best-preserved medieval monastery, located on the island of Mosterøy in Rennesøy municipality, Rogaland county. The premises are now used for a conference centre, museum, concert hall and a variety of educational and leisure purposes. The abbey can be reached from Stavanger in 30 minutes by road through the Rennfast undersea tunnel. Beautiful medieval church with typical Norwegian decoration. www.utstein-kloster.no/index.cfm
 
Jeløy (Moss):
- In the church a big window depicting the Tree of Life, considered to be one of the most important artworks of the artist Victor Sparre.
 
Sveio:
- Valestrand Culture Church has expositions. www.kulturkyrkja.no
 
Oslo:
- The Vigelandpark in the middle of the big Frognerpark in Oslo is perhaps the best known park in Norway. The park has 212 stones, granite and bronze sculptures, all made from 1907 until 1942 by the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Many sculptures symbolize the cycle of human life. At the bottom of the bridge the development of an embryo to a toddler, while around the monolith all phases of man’s life are depicted. The Vigelandpark has free access throughout the year. http://vigeland.museum.no/en 
- Emanuel Vigeland Museum at Slemdal is one of Oslo's best kept secrets. The museum's main attraction is a dark, barrel-vaulted room, completely covered with fresco paintings. The 800 sq.m. fresco Vita depicts human life from conception till death, in dramatic and often explicitly erotic scenes. Emanuel Vigeland (1875-1948), Gustav Vigeland's younger brother, erected the building in 1926, intended as a museum for his sculptures and paintings. He eventually decided that the museum should also serve as a mausoleum. Influenced by Italian prototypes, he named his building Tomba Emmanuelle. www.emanuelvigeland.museum.no/museum.htm  
- Morgensrud Kirke, Oslo, 2001: Modern stone church famous for its unusual architecture. The architects, Jensen & Skodvin, were awarded the prestigious Grosch medal for this work. They have integrated nature in the construction of slate, glass and steel. Inside you find beautiful works of art. The altar piece includes three special stones; one from the Berlin wall, one from Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisoned) and one from Jerusalem.                   
- Alfaset chapel (Oslo): beautiful painting by Jakob Weidemann (1923-2001), a foremost Norwegian painter, from 1971.
- Gamle Aker Kirke: Oslo’s oldest building, from the 11th century.
- Domkirke, Baroque church with Neo-gothic interior.  www.oslodomkirke.no
- Jakob Culture Church, Hausmannsgate 14. Jakob Church of Culture is situated in the eastern part of central Oslo. It is an old neo gothic church building, that in 2000 was taken over by record company KKV (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) and turned it into a sacred building for the arts. First of all it serves as a brilliant concert facility, housing 550 people, but besides that, theatre performances and art exhibitions frequently take place in the old building. www.jakob.no  
- KULT – Center for Arts, Culture and Church has expositions. www.kirken.no/oslo/index.cfm?id=364709
 
Bærum (15 km. from Oslo centre):
- Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden, owns several important works by Weidemann. Among these are The Capercaillie flies off (a major work from the Woodland-floor period) and the monumental works of the 1960s The Road to Jerusalem, The Crown of Thorns, Fog in Gethsemane and Hommage à El Greco.
 
Hamar:                                                                                                                                                
- The Hamar cathedral ruins are a part of the Hedmark museum (Hedmarksmuseet). The ruins are what remains of the old Hamar cathedral which was completed in 1200. The cathedral was originally built in Romanesque architecture and later converted to Gothic architecture. The distinctive arches in the cathedral ruins are covered in one of the most ambitious construction projects of its kind undertaken by the Norwegian government.
 
Bergen:
- Fillingsdalen Kirke, built in 1976.
- The Bergen Museum is a university museum, divided into two departments, the Natural History Collections and the Cultural History Collections. It has a unique collection of Norwegian church art of the Middle Ages and post-Reformation church art. 
 
Knarvik
- Knarvik Church was built in 2014 by Reiulf Ramstad Architecter, Oslo. http://www.reiulframstadarchitects.com/community-church-knarvik
 
Geilo:
- Geilo kulturkyrkje, church built in 2010, with windows by Kjell Nupen. Architect: Jorun Westad Brusletto. Designed with ample space for exhibitions and concerts etc. www.uib.no/universitymuseum 
 
Steinkjer:
- In the church works by Jakob Weidemann (1923-2001).
 
Trondheim:
- The Nidaros Cathedral and Archbishop's Palace. In the cathedral: The Altar of the Holy Cross standing in the east section of the nave has a decoration made from patinated bronze made by Wenche Gulbrandsen during the period 1986-1995. On the altar there is a 2.6 m high crucifix in silver, modelled by Wilhelm Rasmussen and made by David-Andersen. In the St. John's Chapel an altar designed in twentieth-century style by Harald Wårvik in 1985. Today the Archbishop's Palace has become a major museum complex about Trondheim's and Norway's history. The museum features the original sculptures from Nidaros Cathedral as well as an archaeological exhibition. One can also visit the great hall dating from the 1160s where the archbishop would receive his visitors and where he had his private quarters.
 
Tromsdalen:                                                                                                                                            
- Arctic Cathedral. Spectacular building with window of Victor Sparre.